Oct 2 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks were weaker but well of their
lows on Friday morning as a disappointing jobs report raised
doubts about the strength of the labor market and whether the
economy was robust enough for an interest rate hike.

Nonfarm payrolls rose by 142,000, below the 203,000 that
economists had expected, and August and July figures were
revised lower. The jobless rate held steady at 5.1 percent but
average hourly wages fell by a cent from August.

With job growth slowing for the last three months,
economists said the Federal Reserve was now unlikely to raise
interest rates this year.

The report, the last before the Fed's meeting at the end of
October, appeared to belie Fed Chair Janet Yellen's comment last
week that the U.S. economy was strong enough to withstand a rate
hike this year.
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